Yorkers share their thoughts on presidential election; chime in

York County Democrats react as Barack Obama is announced the winner of Ohio (John A. Pavoncello)

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With nearly 97 percent of the vote in, Mitt Romney has attracted nearly 60 percent of the vote in York County compared to 38.6 percent for Barack Obama.

But AP and a number of other news organizations have declared Obama the winner of the election.

York City resident Stephani Brown said she voted for Obama because she agrees with his strategy in Afghanistan.

The 29-year-old soldier said she believes "there's a reason for us to be over there."

"I also want to see my soldiers come home," Brown said.

Meredith Herman, 67, of West Manchester Township said she voted for Romney because "he's for Israel and Obama isn't."
Herman said she's worried Obama would start a war with Israel, an American ally.

Joel Bergstrom, 60, of West Manchester Township said he's disappointed in Obama's first term, but he voted for the president because "I don't trust Mitt Romney.

"The promises haven't come close to being true," he said.

Bergstrom said he worries Romney would uproot the Social Security system.

"Looks like Social Security is going to go away in two years with him," Bergstrom said.

York City resident Rod Kuhn, 55, said he voted for Romney because he believes the former Massachusetts governor has the best chance of improving lives around the world.

"I want things to improve," Kuhn said. "The whole world, I think, is in trouble."

But, Kuhn said, he's not against Obama. He just thinks Romney is the better man for the job.

"I just hope this will be something good for the people," Kuhn said.

At the Princess Street Center in York City, Chris Borrero said he voted in his first election for Obama.

"I just like him," Borrero, 22, said. "He makes more sense."

Darryl Richardson of York City said he cast a ballot for Obama because he said he sees the president making progress.

When the president took office, he had some major issues to deal with, Richardson, 49, said.

"He's making progress," he said. "It would be a shame to cut that off."

Lexy Bardolf, 52, of York Township said she voted straight Republican, as she has in every election since she was 18.

"Over the past four years there's been no change and I think there's been no improvement," she said. "We can't go another four years like this. Mitt Romney has great ideas and we should see them through."

She said the issues most important to her are the deficit and employment.

Chris Nolt, 20, of York Township, said he unenthusiastically voted for Romney in his first presidential election.

"I don't know if either of them is that great, but some change is needed, something new. They both have their strengths and weaknesses."

He said he ultimately liked Romney's taxation plan better than Obama's.

Linda Frey, 70, of York Township, said she voted for Romney.

"I don't want four more years of change. And I don't like Obamacare."

Her husband, 68-year-old Donald Frey, said he thinks "Obamacare" will "destroy Medicare."

"And (Obama) ran up all this debt for four years. He's a far-left liberal and I just don't want anything to do with Democrats."

He said he voted Democratic until the 1990s, when he felt the party became too liberal because it supported gay marriage and abortion.

"I don't care if the gays want to live together, but this whole thing about marriage, whew!"

Sharon Emig, 47, of Dallastown.

"I support Romney because I just feel like we have given the present president a chance to make changes, but we still need change."

A military wife and mother, she said she thinks Romney will be more supportive of the military than Obama has been.

Her husband, 47-year-old Tim Emig of Dallastown, said he's a Marine Corps veteran and he votes Republican because he remembers them giving more pay raises when he was in the military. With his son also serving in the Corps, he said the military is his main concern.

Linda Ilgenfritz, 60, of Springettsbury Township, a Democrat said she voted for Obama.

"Romney scares me with some of his thinking. I would listen to Romney's speeches and I just felt that Romney said whatever the people there wanted to hear. Obama was dealt a dirty hand and had to pick up a lot of issues from the previous administration problems. But he did a lot to help America by getting the banks of out financial crisis, helping the middle class, making sure people with (less) income got the help they need. He's really trying to help everyone in America."

Howard Gleaves, 48, of Springettsbury Township said he opted not to cast a vote for president.

"I'm a Democrat. I voted for Obama in 2008, but I didn't want to do that this time. But I couldn't vote for Romney either. Neither one of them worked for me. I don't see either of them being a great choice for the office."

Vondetta Longus, 39-year-old Democrat of Springettsbury Township, said she voted for Obama.

"I still believe in him and his views for America. Four years wasn't enough to finish what he started. It took more than four years for America to get into the situations we're facing now. He needs more time. If all he can do is eight years, I'm going to give him that eight."

Shipley said he didn't think four years would be enough to fix all that ails the country, and that Obama should get more time. But he added he doesn't expect everything to be fixed by the time Obama would finish another four years, either.

Davena Gray, 33, of Manchester Township, voted for Romney for a simple reason.

"We just need a change," she said, adding that it's somewhat a "lesser of two evils" situation.

Randi Naftal, 60, of Manchester Township, was one of those "undecided voters" candidates were so pressed to impress.

She decided to go with Mitt Romney, thinking "we need someone who has a bit of a financial background."

Even during the debates, Naftal said she was going back and forth, but thought Romney would do better with Medicare. Still, she's been wary of all the political ads.

"They just tell you what they think you want to hear," she said. "I never know who to believe."